


don't want to think about it // don't want to talk about it

by Petra1999



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Age Difference, Alcohol, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Band, Drunk Tyler, Drunkenness, Explicit Language, M/M, Sharing a Room, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-23 17:11:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6123756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Petra1999/pseuds/Petra1999
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Can I have the rest?" he asks. Tyler thinks about it for a second. The thought of the drink's taste almost makes him gag, so he nods slowly. He watches Josh take the bottle and empty it into the grass behind them.</p><p>(inspired by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/5810758">bold and fearless in the risks we take</a> by <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/outtakes/pseuds/outtakes">outtakes</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Tyler sits on the sidewalk, next to a corner of a nightclub, a bottle in his hand, half empty, everything is sticky. The pavement is cold and hard; he notices that he has imprints of pebbles on his palm when he looks at it. He wipes them off on his ripped jeans. The dirt doesn't come off. Tyler looks up, squinting, letting his gaze move over the scene. The street is almost empty, and dark. Some weak street lamps are standing further away, letting shadows dance. Tyler likes it.

Suddenly a dark figure walks past him, a fast pace, hands tugged into the pockets of their pants. Tyler follows the figure with his eyes, away, away. But then it stops. It turns around. It walks closer. It's a guy. Broad shoulders, messy hair, is that makeup? Tyler can't make out anything else. The man stops very close to Tyler, he looks down at him.

"What?" Tyler asks, his speech is slurred. He grabs his bottle more tightly.

"How old are you?" the man asks. Deep, stern voice. Not what Tyler wants to hear right now.

"Old _enough_ , alright?" Tyler is annoyed, he rolls his eyes. Something in the back of his head hurts. He puts the bottle down on the pavement and buries his head in his hands for a second. Now the sticky liquid and the dirt are all over his face. Not that he cares. The man still looks down on him, Tyler feels it, so he looks up to him and tries to stare into his eyes through the darkness.

"Are you alright? I can bring you home," the man suggests.

Tyler lets out his breath, half laughing, half coughing. "Not supposed to talk to strangers," he explains, shaking his head. The man turns around, and Tyler thinks he finally goes away, but he doesn't. He just looks around, up and down the street, then he turns towards Tyler again - and sits down next to him.

"I'm Josh," the man says. He doesn't seem drunk at all. Tyler moves closer to the wall on the other side of him, pressing his side against it. Then he raises his arm to take his bottle, but instead of the glass he feels soft skin. Shocked, he withdraws his arm, staring at Josh, who had his fingers wrapped around the bottle. "Sorry," Josh says, but he doesn't seem quite sorry. "Can I have the rest?" he asks. Tyler thinks about it for a second. The thought of the drink's taste almost makes him gag, so he nods slowly. He watches Josh take the bottle and empty it into the grass behind them.

"What the fuck, man?" Tyler’s voice sounds much less angry than intended. He always trips over his own tongue somehow. Josh runs his hand through his hair - it's a saturated pink, Tyler realises. Tyler lets out a "hmpf".

"You said you didn't need it anymore," Josh defended himself, rubs his eyes, turns around to look at Tyler next to him. "How old are you, now?"

"I'm _nineteen_ , alright?"

Josh raises an eyebrow at that, and sighs. "Great. Underage drinking. What's the sob story then?"

Tyler almost doesn't hear the question. There's a ringing in his ears, a voice whispering _go, go, go away_ over and over again. He doesn't know who the voice is talking to. "There's none." It's a blatant lie.

Josh carefully puts the empty bottle on the pavement. "You should go home," he says after a while.

"No," Tyler says. He hiccups. "I really shouldn't."

Josh bites on his lip, looking at the state the younger man is in. "Yeah, maybe you're right," he says. "I can bring you somewhere else if you want. My car's over there." He half-heartedly gestures to a bunch of cars on the other side of the street.

"Uuggghhh, I’m _fine_." Tyler pressed the side of his face against the cool stone wall and closes his eyes. He only hears breathing for a moment. He hiccups.

"No, you're not. Look at you," Josh presses on.

"Says the guy with the pink hair."

There is a pause, then Tyler hears Josh chuckling and opens his eyes to look at the man - he has raised an eyebrow again. A car drives past and Tyler sees his face well for the first time - big nose, nice lips, red makeup around his eyes.

"I have no idea how my hair colour is relevant right now," Josh says, shuffles around, pulls up the zipper of his jacket as far as possible when a gust of wind swipes over them. Tyler is still looking at Josh’s face when the car is far away, and it's dark around them again. He realises that Josh probably expects an explanation. There is no explanation. Tyler is drunk as shit.

Josh sighs and stands up. "Well, I’m cold so I’m going now. I have a hotel room not far away. Just a suggestion." He offers Tyler his hand to help him stand up, and Tyler takes it, surprised by himself. Tyler feels dizzy and leans against Josh’s chest, closing his eyes. Josh clears his throat and awkwardly makes sure that Tyler doesn't fall by supporting his hips. Then finally Tyler stand upright again. "Can we go now?" Josh asks. Tyler nods and Josh slowly walks towards the street, carefully crossing it, keeping his eyes on Tyler.

When Josh opens the passenger car door for Tyler, Tyler’s thoughts go wild. Somewhere deep inside he knows that he's doing something incredibly stupid right now, but the alcohol drowns the nervous feeling in his guts, and Tyler smiles as he lets himself fall into the passenger seat. He loves this. He loves to be able to ignore his fear.

Josh sits down in the driver's seat and starts up the car. After a quick look towards Tyler he drives out of the parking lot. Tyler looks through the window, staring at the blurred images outside. If he died now, he'd die smiling.

His thoughts are interrupted by Josh. "What's your name?" he asks.

"Tyler."

"Tyler, there's a sandwich in the glovebox," Josh says. "You can have it."

"Now you're just drugging me," Tyler jokes ( _jokes?_ ) as he fumbles around the opening of the box. The sandwich smells wonderful, but after just one bite Tyler gags and puts it back in. "Not hungry," he says.

Josh laughs. "Sure."

Less than 15 minutes later, Josh slows the car and they arrive at a shabby-looking motel. Tyler looks at the lights, unfocusing and focusing his eyes again, as Josh gets some stuff from the back row. "Come," he says and leaves the car. Tyler collects his thoughts and then rushes after Josh into the motel.

The entrance area is dimly lit, dusty. Josh talks to the receptionist and gets a key. Tyler and Josh share a glance and then Tyler follows Josh to the door of their room. Josh locks it up and enters, flicking the light switch.

Just one bed.

That's the first thing Josh notices. 'Of course', he thinks to himself. He wasn't really planning on taking some drunk guy home when he booked the room for the week. He stops in his movements and looks at Tyler, waiting for him to realize the problem. But Tyler just stumbles into the tiny bathroom and locks the door behind him. Then he starts throwing up. Josh sighs and begins to undress. There is no way in hell he helps that boy go through this.

After a while, Tyler comes out of the bathroom. Josh looks at him carefully for the first time. The boy is tanned, but all colour has drained from his face. He's skinny. Very skinny.

"What are _you_ looking at?" Tyler asks grumpily, eyes unfocused. Josh can't stop his grin. Then he realises that he is in just his boxers and quickly puts on his sleeping pants and slips under the bedsheets. Tyler looks up and finally notices the lack of a second bed. He feels sick again. "I'mma sleep in the bathroom," he says and he really walks back into the bathroom, closing the door.

Josh feels slightly bad, but after all he is paying for this bed, so he might as well use it himself. He tries to sleep, but the boy is all he can think about.

About an hour later, he finally decides to get up. He takes the pillow and bedsheets from the bed and walks to the bathroom, opening the door carefully. Tyler lies asleep on the floor. Josh places the pillow under the boy's head, and the bedsheets on him. Then he walks back and puts on his jacket. Now he can go to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Tyler wakes up in the middle of the night, his cheek pressed against a cloth lying on the floor. He can feel the coldness still, but he realises that Josh must have felt bad for him. He sits up, but a burning pain strikes through his head as he does, and he groans and falls back onto the floor, supporting himself with his hands only in the last second. His stomach turns around, he feels he is going to be sick, still tasting some of the alcohol on his tongue. Closing his eyes, Tyler tries to breath slowly. Do not throw up, he tells himself. He tries to sleep some more.

Josh wakes up in the morning, when the alarm on his phone goes off at a way-too-high volume. Heart beating fast from the shock, he throws himself closer to the nightstand and presses the snooze-button. The man lets himself fall back onto the mattress, sighing. He just remembered that there is a hungover boy in his bathroom, and he really doesn't look forward to waking him up.

When the alarm goes off again, 6 minutes later, Josh finally turns it off and slowly crawls out of bed. He didn't sleep well that night, and his muscles hurt when he moves. He decides to not change before he gets to take a shower, and so he walks up to the bathroom door and knocks softly to wake up Tyler.

Inside, Tyler is already staring up to the ceiling, having heard Josh’s alarm. He feels a bit better than in the night, but he still feels dizzy. He murmurs a "yeah...", and the door opens. Josh’s face appears, hair messy and in all directions, a curious expression on his face that softens as he sees Tyler on the floor.

"Wakey, wakey." Josh says, and Tyler almost laughs at that. "How are you feeling?"

Tyler answers with a groan, heaving himself up from the floor with weak arms. Josh enters the room and offers him his hand, like he did the day before. Tyler stands up without taking it, but has to lean against the wall because he gets dizzy. "Like shit," he replies.

"No wonder," Josh says as he eyes the tiny shower behind Tyler, "You were quite drunk yesterday."

"You don't have to tell me." Tyler looks over his shoulder to see what Josh is looking at, then back at him, taking the hint. "I'll leave."

Josh nods and makes room for Tyler to walk past. "You- I mean, you can stay in the hotel room, if you want."

Tyler just looks at him with a blank expression. "Alright," he says, not mentioning that he only meant leaving the bathroom anyways - there is no way he is going home. He walks out and sits on the hotel bed, closing his eyes again to collect his thoughts. Tyler hears Josh turning the key in the bathroom door, and soon after he hears water rushing. He decides to take a shower too later, and remembers that he doesn't have any fresh clothing with him. He sighs, and waits patiently for Josh to finish and come out of the bathroom.

"How can I get rid of the hangover?" Tyler asks him as soon as Josh steps out of the room. He turns his head around just to find Josh wrapped in a towel, a smirk on his face.

"So that's your first one? Are you serious?"

Josh’s upper body is very muscular, and Tyler swallows. He watches a drop of water run down Josh’s body. "What?" he didn’t listen.

"You've never been hungover before?"

"Oh." Tyler decides to tell the truth. "I've never been drunk before." He feels uncomfortable with Josh standing there, almost uncovered. "Can I take a shower too?" he turns the topic away from the alcohol quickly.

"... Sure." Josh walks over to his bag.

"And can I borrow some clothes?" Tyler asks. Josh pauses in his movements for a second, before pulling out a simple white shirt and grey pants out of the bag.

"They won't fit you, but here you go," he says, and throws the clothing in Tyler’s arms. Tyler mumbles a thanks and disappears in the bathroom. Josh changes into the last fresh clothes he has and counts his loose change. It's enough.

Tyler strips out of his clothes and steps into the shower. The water pressure is not enough for him, but he relaxes anyways. He stands there, letting the water rush down onto his shoulders, and thinks about how Josh was exactly where Tyler is standing now only a minute ago. He wonders how Josh looks when taking a shower. Then he shakes his head, trying to get rid of the thought. He will not fall in love with a man. He needs to turn it all off - everything. Being gay got him into enough trouble already. He still needs to go home, someday. maybe today, or tomorrow. He can't run away forever. He needs to apologize to his parents. He needs to change. And not thinking about the handsome, nice man who invited him into his hotel room when Tyler was oh so embarrassingly drunk is the first step to change.

Still in thought about his family, he turns off the water and grabs a towel from the floor underneath the sink. As soon as he's dry, he puts on Josh’s clothing. He pauses with his hand on the door handle to take a deep breath. He presses it down, exiting the bathroom. The cooler air from the hotel room gives him goosebumps.

Josh is lying on the bed, legs and arms sprawled out. When he hears Tyler, he looks up for a short moment. Then he rolls to his side and stands up smoothly.

"Ready to go?" Josh asks after a few seconds of silence. Tyler’s gaze wanders up and down Josh’s body. The man is wearing a tank top and dark grey shorts. His skin is very pale, Tyler notices, very different from his own.

Tyler doesn't want to answer. He is scared that if he opens his mouth, all his unspoken words will come out; all his uncried tears. So he just stands there, staring.

Josh lowers his gaze and sighs. "Look, you can trust me. If you don't wanna go home, tell me. If you do, tell me. If you-, well, you know."

Tyler eyes Josh’s expression when he says that. He seems honest. „I don't want you to leave me alone," slips out of his mouth. Fuck. "What I mean is-", Tyler runs his fingers through his hair nervously, "That I don't know where to go and I was hoping you could help me so I don't have to go home and also you're nice to me I don't know maybe I’m just really ann-"

"Tyler!" Josh interrupts the boy's breathless explanation. "It's fine. You can come with me for a little while. I'm heading a little bit east, because I’ve got an order to collect about two hours from here."

Tyler’s stomach turns around. What did he get himself into? is Josh a drug dealer? "What kind of order?" he asks carefully.

"A piece of my new drum set." Josh explains.

"Oh."

Josh steps closer. "So, ready to go now?" he asks softly.

Tyler nods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have no idea where this story is heading help

**Author's Note:**

> please leave kudos if you enjoyed!  
> still wip, obviously


End file.
